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Flores disappointed to see Watford outplayed

Date published: Thursday 14th January 2016 10:16

Quique Flores was disappointed but not angry after Watford failed to be “competitive” in their 2-0 Premier League defeat at Southampton.

The hosts convincingly outplayed and outworked his team, and had the Saints even been slightly more clinical in the final third they would have won by a far greater margin than that provided by goals from Shane Long and Dusan Tadic.

Watford were sluggish throughout and occasionally erratic, but having inspired his team to an impressive first half of the season, in which they have often appeared capable of challenging for European football, their manager was reluctant to be negative.

“I’m not angry, I’m disappointed, but not angry,” Flores said.

“We have the feeling we didn’t play in the right way. We made mistakes, we made Southampton’s play very easy. They played much better than us.

“But it’s the first time during the season we’ve had this feeling, so more than ever supporting the players, transmitting to the players it’s possible to make mistakes… it’s the first time, we need to understand sometimes it’s possible.

“It’s the first time we feel that we were not competitive. It’s the first time the opponent is much better than us. I apologise to the fans. My feeling is to give more support than ever to the players, it’s the first time in six months we’ve had this feeling. We can learn for the future.

“It’s football, sometimes it happens. It’s not our idea when we’re training, it’s not our idea when we are playing the match, it’s not the spirit of the team.

“Our spirit is very high, it’s very positive, it’s very energetic, but we didn’t find this spirit, and Southampton played really well.”